Will You Be My Bribe
by Saturday's Sun
Summary: When the love of Draco's life left him, his heart seemed to go along with her. Until Hermione, a small town girl, arrived. But will he get his heart back? Or is Hermione hiding something that will break it all over again?
1. No Blondes Allowed

**Disclaimer**

I do not own Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy or Blaise Zabini.

**No Blondes Allowed**

Hermione Granger did not like what she was hearing. But she knew that at the end of the present argument she was having with her father, she was going to have to give in. He was past his prime and his body looked susceptible to his poor health – she did not want to upset him any further.

So she sighed. "All right, Dad. I'll go pack my bags."

Draco Malfoy tilted his head in pleasure.

His good friend, Blaise Zabini, shook his head. "Draco," he said, while pulling away the bottle of liquor that Draco was drinking.

"Come on, it's three in the morning. Don't you have work tomorrow? Or as a matter of fact, today?"

Draco pushed Blaise's hand away. "Shut up, _Mum_."

Rolling his eyes, Blaise forcefully pried the bottle away from Draco's long fingers and got him out of the club and into the taxi.

In the cab, he looked over at Draco and once again felt hatred arise within him. _How could she have done this to him?_

"Morning, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco's head hurt like mad. But he tried not to show it, as he merely nodded his head and walked briskly past the pretty receptionist. He tried recalling her name, but it was to no avail, although he did remember ever dating her once. Maybe that explained the longing look in her eyes.

Draco never dated a woman for long. His record was 2 weeks and that was because he was in Denmark on a business trip and was so busy that he had forgotten to call her to break the whole thing off.

_Damn you,_ _Eva_.

She was someone he loved and cared for more than any other woman in his life, even his mother, whom he hated. He hated both his parents, whom derived pleasure from maintaining their social status by living behind masks and disguises. They never did care for him and even though they both had affairs 

behind each other's back, they pretended not to notice as a divorce would probably ruin _their_ lives and it could even affect the stock prices of his father's oil company.

And despite his indifference towards his parents, here he was, sitting at the mahogany desk of his office, behind the title of 'Managing Director'. The title was given to him since birth but he did not hate the job, which made it all the more ironic. The only thing he hated was that it brought him to Eva.

_Eva…_

"Mr. Malfoy? Mr. Malfoy?" His secretary interrupted his thoughts.

He cleared his throat. "Yes?"

"This is the letter you asked for."

He took the letter over from her and glanced at the envelope which said 'Resignation Letter'.

"You're resigning?"

"Yes. I'm going to move to Tucson next week to get married, didn't I tell you?"

Draco vaguely remembered and nodded.

His secretary smiled before turning to leave. At the door she turned back.

"Oh, by the way, I'll be interviewing and selecting potential candidates to be your secretary. Anything that I should look out for?"

"No blondes." It seemed like a joke, yet Draco was serious.

She smiled. "You have a message from Georgina, asking you to call her back," she said, even though she knew that he probably wouldn't call her.

As she walked away, she thought to herself, _that_ _poor thing - he never got over her. _

Hermione looked around at the dingy apartment that she had managed to rent for a lower rate than the rest. This was _London_, not Canterbury, where she came from.

London – somewhere Hermione had always wanted to go but had no money. Her mother always told her to do the things that she liked, no matter what other people said. She forgot to mention that money played a great part in doing whatever she liked.

But now that Hermione had used most of her savings to come to London and to pay the deposit of three months' rent in this small apartment, Hermione had to remind herself again why she had wanted to come here in the first place.

She knew _why_ she had to come, though. It was to earn enough money for her dad's e heart bypass operation. It was a major one and it would be too expensive for her job at the little bookshop in town could support. So she quit the job and left Canterbury to come to London.

In the next hour, she found herself sitting at the reception area and staring at the receptionist. _She is so pretty,_ Hermione thought. Red hair cropped at the base of her neck and stunning blue eyes to match that face, the receptionist looked so pretty that Hermione wondered if all the girls in the building (or the whole of London) looked like that. Suddenly, she felt even dowdier in her white suit, something that she had bought back home. It had cost a bomb, but comparing that to what the receptionist wore, she felt that she did not belong there.

"Mr. Kelinsky will be right with you," the receptionist had said. But it has been half an hour and still no word of him.

"Miss Granger? You may go to his office now. Just turn right and at the end of the hallway."

Hermione made her way to the end and knocked on the door.

"Come in," a deep voice sounded from behind the door.

Hermione opened the door and found herself looking at a distinguished looking man. He was clean-shaven and every inch of his posture and voice exuded confidence.

But he was not as confident as he looked or sounded.

That morning, the CEO of the company had lashed out at him. "How the _hell_ did they get ahead of us again?!"

They had previously submitted a contracting bid for one of the largest shipping firms in America and had lost by only a few thousand dollars.

"Why is it that they manage to bid lower than us by a measly amount and get the contracts? This is the _fifth_ time it has happened!"

Before he could reply, the CEO glared at him. "There is an insider on this. Make sure this doesn't happen again. And I don't care how you do it!" That meant, _get rid of the insider, or else._

Mr. Kelinsky's thoughts snapped back to the present. He flipped through Hermione's resume far too quickly. _Nothing much,_ he thought.

He was about to thank her for coming down when he realized that she really was quite pretty, yet not in the London kind of way. She had full lips and honey brown eyes that matched perfectly with her chestnut-brown hair that reached her shoulders. Her nose gave her a distinguished look and gave people the impression that she is not one to back down easily in a challenge without a fight.

"You're from…"

"Canterbury, sir."

Mr. Kelinsky had a fantastic idea. Now, all he had to do was to convince her to do it and he knew just the right way.

He smiled. "Please, call me Michael."

Hermione walked out of the office door with messed up thoughts in her head.

_What am I doing?_ She asked herself.

She had just accepted an offer to spy for Mr. Kelinsky – to spy on Malfoy Enterprises, another rival oil company.

Michael had made it sound so easy. "You are not spying on _them_ - you will be spying for _me_."

He had offered her a salary that could pay for her dad's surgery in three months, if she scrimped and saved. All she had to do was to apply for the secretarial position over there and if she did not get it, he would still hire her and pay her the amount he had promised. If she _did _get it and if the salary they offered was lower than promised, he would reimburse her the amount.

It had sounded so tempting at the moment that she couldn't resist. So she accepted.

"Great," he said. "Here's a list of the six other people on the bidding team. Just look out for their names and inform me. That's all you have to do."

Hermione instantly regretted, but she knew that she had not much of a choice. She called her dad and told him the good news though she left out the part on the spying. He was elated at the news of her getting a job and he sounded so glad and happy that Hermione didn't have the heart to turn back and reject the offer.

Michael had said that he would call the human resources personnel at Malfoy Enterprises and pull a personal favour for her.

Now all she had to do was to march down a few blocks and attend a secretarial interview.

_No turning back, Hermione. No turning back._

"Miss Granger?"

"Yes?" Hermione looked up to see another pretty face. _They're all so darn pretty!_

"Hi, I'm Jenny, the current secretary," she said, extending a hand.

"Come along, I'll bring you to the conference room."

The room looked as big as her living room and the red carpets made Hermione feel like a movie star. Jenny's smile warmed the room and Hermione reeled from the guilt she was feeling.

"So… Miss Granger. You graduated from the University of Kent with a degree in English Language _and_ you're a scholar." Jenny hesitated. "Maybe you might be a little _too_ qualified for this job. You _do_ know what job you're applying for, right?" she joked with a wink.

Hermione couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, I do. But I don't think I'm overqualified. I don't have the necessary secretarial experience and I'm glad that I've been offered a chance to learn."

Jenny smiled. She liked the girl immensely and this was by far the best interview she had had all day. She had made up all sorts of reasons to reject those who with blond hair and the rest had horrendous attitudes. Some of them only applied because they knew who they would be working for.

"Do you know who you'll be working for?" Jenny tested.

"No, not really." Hermione shook her head and was sincere about not knowing. Michael hadn't told her who she'd be working for. All she knew was that she had to pay attention should any of the names in the list that he gave her pop out in any conversations.

_Finally. I've found her,_ Jenny thought.

"All right, can you start work next Monday?"

Hermione tried not to express her shock. "I- Yes."

"Good. Fill up these papers and I'll see you next Monday."

And as she walked past the corridor carrying her guilt along with her, she couldn't help but notice a strange phenomenon.

All the girls working on that floor were either redheads or brunettes like herself.

_There were no blondes._

A/N: Please read & review!


	2. Cinderella and Frogs

**Cinderella and Frogs**

Hermione wore her nicest blouse to work – it was made out of silk and was one of the few things that her mother had left behind after she died of a car accident two years ago. Hermione still missed her so much and there were so many things she wanted to tell her. For example, she wanted to ask her mother if what she was doing now was right – her mother always knew what to do.

But she was not here anymore, so Hermione had to depend on herself. She made up her mind not to back down. It was only for three months; she needed to raise enough money for her father's surgery and technically she was doing the company a service by identifying the traitor.

_If they were capable enough, they wouldn't need to hire you as a spy._

That was the only thought Hermione could not get out of her head.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Hermione arrived just on time – her parents have taught her well, Jenny thought. She smiled. "Here you are. Nice blouse. Come, let me show you to your desk."

Hermione was then briefed on her job scope for about fifteen minutes before Jenny hurried off to catch her plane to Tucson.

But before she left, she gave Hermione another shock by saying, "Oh, by the way, you'll be working for the MD."

She sat down and swirled in her comfortable chair. She turned and looked behind her. There was a thin glass sheet between her desk and her boss's office. There was no one in the office yet and Hermione wondered what the MD would look like. Surely it'll be some old and balding guy with a flabby tummy. Hermione giggled while she imagined how he would look like.

But he did have a nice name. _Draco Malfoy_. No doubt he was linked to the founder of Malfoy Enterprises.

_Get back to work, Hermione,_ she silently chided.

And so she did. But throughout the whole day until she left her desk, the office behind her remained empty.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

As she walked down the long and winding staircases that led to the front lobby of the office building, she missed her footing and almost fell, if not for the railing beside her. _How stupid of me. _Her face flushed with embarrassment and hoped that no one saw her fall.

To make things worse, one of her shoes managed to find its way a few steps down. She needed to retrieve her shoe quickly and put it back on before anyone else saw her making a fool of herself.

But it was too late. She saw a man bend over to retrieve her shoe with a puzzled expression on his face. He hooked the strap of the shoe with one finger and looked at it as if it fell from the sky. But even with a look of confusion on his face, there was no mistake about it. He was the most handsome man that Hermione had ever seen in all her 24 years of life.

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow as if to ask whether the shoe belonged to her. He had the most beautiful gray eyes and Hermione felt herself staring into them without even knowing it.

"Yours?"

His deep voice gave her a tingly feeling of pleasure and she nodded numbly, not knowing what to say. She was about to take her shoe back when he suddenly knelt down and gently cradled her ankle with one hand while holding her shoe in the other.

"Please, it's all right. I can get up."

But as she tried getting up, pain shot up from her ankle and she sat back down on the steps again.

The eyebrow went up again, into silvery blonde hair that looked like it was woven from the moon.

"You were saying?"

"I think I must have twisted it when I fell."

He examined the ankle. "I don't think it's broken, though."

Hermione didn't know what to say – she was embarrassed beyond words and it can be seen from the flush in her cheeks.

Draco looked up at her and wanted to laugh. Her face was so red that he decided not to embarrass her further.

"I've never seen a girl fall for me like that," he joked, attempting to lift the mood.

Hermione looked up and smiled at him. _As if_¸ she thought.

Draco noticed that she had a very nice smile – the kind that will warm you up inside and could light up the entire room. He smiled back and said, "There's this fairy tale about a lost shoe, right?"

"Cinderella."

"Right. So what happens when I put this shoe back on?"

Hermione's smile grew wider. "Then I turn you into a handsome frog."

Draco laughed and slipped her shoe back on before helping her to her feet.

He got her a cab just outside the building and before he closed the door, he smiled at her.

"Ribbit," he said.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The next day Hermione was seated at her desk and checking her emails when a familiar deep voice said, "Hello Cinderella."

Hermione looked up. It was the same guy from yesterday! He looked down at her with his stunning gray eyes and he was holding his tie in one hand and a briefcase in another.

"So I guess you're my new secretary?"

Her eyes widened. Where was the old and balding guy with the flabby tummy?

_Snap out of it, Hermione, or he'll think he hired someone dumb._

"Yup."

"You're not from London, are you?"

"No, how can you tell?"

He laughed. "Because no one in London says 'yup'."

"Oh."

"Any messages for me?"

"No, not yet."

"Good." Draco didn't want any women trouble today.

He saw the strange look that Hermione was giving him and clarified himself. "I mean, if there are any, please help me take them down. Thanks."

Hermione watched as he made his way back into the office. _He must be the son of the founding Director of the company. How else can the MD of any company be so young?_

The phone rang. "Hello, how may I help you?"

"Jenny?"

"No, I'm sorry but she doesn't work here anymore."

"Oh! That's right. She's with that bum in America."

Hermione frowned. _How rude._

"How may I help you, Miss?"

"Oh. Is Drakie in?"

"Drakie?"

"You must be new. I'm his girlfriend, Alicia."

Hermione hesitated. _What a strange person._ "Ok, could you hold on a second, please? I'll put you through to him."

"That would be puurrrfect! Thanks!"

She put Miss Puurrrfect on 'Hold' and called through to Draco's office.

"Yes?"

_Oh, that voice._ Hermione felt that tingly feeling all over her body again.

"Mr. Malfoy, I've got someone on the line for you."

"Who is it?"

"Alicia."

"Who?"

"She says she's your girlfriend." Hermione turned around and watched as he hesitated for a few seconds before heaving a sigh of sudden recognition.

"Put her through."

So Hermione put her through to Draco. Secretly she was bummed out about him having a girlfriend. But then again, the moment she saw him she knew that someone like him was probably at the top of the list of the most desirable bachelors. A girl like her wouldn't stand the slightest chance.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

She was about to leave when Draco stepped out of his office. "Hey, I never really got your name."

"Oh, it's Hermione."

"Ok. Hermione, could you do me a favour? I need you to be my partner."

"P-partner?"

"Yes, for this Saturday's event?"

"Oh." Hermione felt like a fool. He meant 'dance partner' for an event that coming Saturday in celebration of the acquisition of another company.

"So I'm guessing you can make it?"

"Yu- I mean, yes."

"Good," Draco smiled. "Here's a company credit card. Just charge your expenses to the card."

"Oh no, it's ok I-"

"Get yourself something nice."

Hermione felt a bit indignant. Was he trying to say that she looked too shabby for him?

Draco felt that he might have said something wrongly as he watched her smile disappear.

He placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. "You're doing me a huge favour and this is all I can offer in return."

Hermione felt a jolt travel throughout her entire body and immediately her shoulders relaxed. "Ok."

"Ok, see you tomorrow, Cinderella."

Hermione laughed. "Ribbit."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Draco got into his car and drove to Alicia's house. He wanted to break it off with her tonight, but he couldn't, not when the contract with her father's company depended on it. But the contract would be signed on Thursday and _then_ he could break it off with her during Saturday's event. He felt a little guilty about using Hermione as an excuse for the break up, but he couldn't be bothered to find anyone else. Besides, it would be better for Alicia's ego if she found out that it was someone like Hermione that he had replaced her with.

It was not that Hermione was ugly – she certainly was pretty enough but she just wasn't Draco's type of girl. She was too naïve.

"Hey darling!"

"Hey."

She pulled him by the collar and led him into the bedroom. "I've missed you so much," she whispered seductively into his ears, but all Draco felt was dread.

"Me too," he lied, as the bedroom doors closed behind them.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

When Friday evening came, Hermione walked down the shopping district of London and marveled at its night life. She walked into a shop and one of the employees turned around with a plastic smile that seemed stuck on her face. But then once she looked Hermione over, she gave a look that said 'What in the world are you doing here? You don't belong here.'

So Hermione turned around and walked away from the snobby employee. She walked on further but saw nothing she liked. All of the clothes seemed too revealing and low-cut.

And then she saw the perfect dress.

As she walked into the corner shop, she was greeted with a warm and welcoming voice that had a tinge of Scottish accent to it.

"Hello! Know what you're looking for?"

"Yes. Actually I'd like to see that dress on display, if it's ok."

"Of course it's ok, dearie!"

As Hermione held up the dress, the woman said, "I think that you'll look _marvelous_ in that dress. Go on! Give it a try!"

And she was right. Hermione _did_ look great in that dress. It was gold in colour which accentuated her fair skin and it was also adorned with sequins which made it even more beautiful but not too flashy. It had a halter neckline and had a horizontal slit in the front which showed just a little but not too much. The bottom hemline of the dress reached just above her knees which was fine for her.

The back was slightly more revealing, though, and Hermione frowned as she tried turning her head back to look at her back view in the mirror. The back was cut in a V-shape all the way to just a little above the base of her spine.

"Don't frown like that, my dear! What's wrong?"

"It's cut too low in the back."

"Nonsense! You look absolutely gorgeous in that dress! And you have such a nice back so you should show it to the rest of the world!"

"But-"

"No buts! And by the way, you do have a nice butt, if I do say so myself," she winked.

Hermione laughed.

"I'm Callie, by the way."

Shaking her hand, Hermione introduced herself.

"Hot date?"

"Nah, company event."

"Oh, it's where those pretentious little brats swing from one foolish man to another, trying to grab a rich man home so as not to worry for the rest of their lives, ain't it?" Seeing that Hermione kept silent, she continued, "I don't mean you, dearie. You look like the good sort."

Hermione smiled.

"Well, in fact, I've got just the right shoes to match that dress so that you can make those pretentious little brats eat your dust."

At the end of Friday, Hermione left with a new dress, a pair of shoes, and a friend.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The next day, she met Callie for breakfast.

The first thing Callie said to her was, "Oh my god! Is that how your hair will look like later on?"

Hermione put a hand to her hair. "There's nothing wrong with it," she said defensively.

"Oh course not! But it doesn't suit the dress! After breakfast, I'm going to bring you to the best hairdresser ever!"

And Callie kept up to her promise as she dragged Hermione to Oliver's after breakfast, leaving no room for protests.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….  
"Oh we _must_ do something about that hair!" Oliver exclaimed.

"It's not _that_ bad," Hermione mumbled.

Callie laughed and patted her shoulder. "He just likes to exaggerate," she explained.

Hermione crossed her fingers and hoped it was worth it.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

It was going to be seven and Hermione had just slipped on a pair of her mother's gold earrings when the doorbell rang.

"Just a minute!" she called out as she fumbled with her shoes.

She was expecting Draco but when she opened the door, it was the chauffeur.

"Mr. Malfoy will be waiting for you at the ballroom," he explained, as if reading her thoughts.

"Oh." Hermione said and followed him to the car. Of course Draco wouldn't bother going to her small and cluttered apartment to pick her up – he probably had better things to do.

Draco was speaking to the Harold Spencer, the Marketing Director of Malfoy Enterprises (M.E.) when suddenly Harold stopped in mid-sentence.

"Hey," he said, "would you look at that. I bet she's from McDermott's. I don't remember seeing her anywhere in M.E."

McDermott's was the company that had been acquired just the day before and Draco turned around to see who Harold was talking about.

He almost couldn't recognize her.

Overnight, she had transformed so drastically. She was wearing a dress that was rather conservative as compared to those that the rest of the women in the room were wearing. But she exuded sexiness as the dress clung to her curves, which he never even noticed. She also had her hair cut and it now framed her heart-shaped face. It fell in waves which reached her shoulders and they reflected light as she walked down the stairs, making it look like a halo over her head.

"My god, she's beautiful, isn't she?" Harold continued his ogling.

"Beautiful?" Draco looked over at Hermione and wondered again how he could have missed it. "Yes. Yes, she is."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Hermione looked around and hoped that it wasn't because of the slit in the back that made people look at her strangely. She knew it was too revealing. Oh, why did she ever let Callie talk her out of it?

While she tried searching for Draco's whereabouts, someone tapped gently on her shoulder.

"May I please have this dance?"

She looked up at a very handsome man – his looks were comparable with Draco's, however in different ways. His features were chiseled and defined and made him look like a Greek statue with a tan to match; on the other hand, Draco was much fairer-skinned. The man standing before her was tall yet not imposing and he had azure eyes that resembled the colour of the sky in spring.

_I guess a dance couldn't hurt. I can't find Draco anyway._

"Ok."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Draco watched as Blaise swoop Hermione out onto the dance floor, with a sappy love ballad playing in the background and all of a sudden, he felt like he was in a bad mood.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

"So, I've never seen you before. McDermott's or M.E.?"

"I just started working at M.E. last week."

"I'm Blaise."

"Hermione. You work in M.E. too?"

"Nope. I'm just here because of a friend."

"Oh, I'm looking for my boss, but I can't seem to find her anywhere."

"Well," Blaise smiled with a sparkle in his eyes. "I'm sure he'll find you soon."

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

"Mr Malfoy! Are you enjoying the -"

"Very much so. Now if you'll please excuse me," Draco interrupted the Projects Manager and made his way through the throngs of people in the ballroom.

He finally made it to Hermione and he found them laughing happily.

"What's so funny?" he couldn't contain the bitterness in his voice and hoped that Hermione didn't hear it.

She didn't, but Blaise was his childhood best friend. He didn't miss a beat.

"It's our private little joke," he said deliberately, before Hermione could reply.

"Oh, really?" Draco's sarcasm grew.

"You two know each other?" Hermione asked, clearly oblivious to the fight that was brewing silently between the two friends.

"Unfortunately," Blaise winked at her and she laughed in return.

Draco saw Blaise give him the winning look. "Aren't you supposed to be _my_ date?"

Draco was a little taken aback by his tone. It almost sounded… jealous.

_Oh, don't be silly. She's just a secretary._

Before Hermione could answer, Blaise jumped to her defense. "She couldn't find you so I decided to keep her company till then. But now that you're here, I'm as good as gone."

Hermione looked apologetic and sorry that Blaise had to leave. What made it worse was that Blaise bent down to give Hermione a kiss on the cheek. "See you around," he said with that irritating wink of his. Irritating, but it had the ability to make women fall at his feet all the same.

She smiled with a faint blush on both cheeks. "Ok. Bye."

Draco felt jealous again and frowned. It did not make sense - it felt _ridiculous_ to be jealous. He didn't even _like_ her. Until today, he never thought of sparing her a second glance.

He watched as Blaise waved at her before he left the room.

And he frowned again.


End file.
